Use the unconscious mind to generate fiction. An intuitive approach involving the utilization of a more urgent, language and image-driven process to create text, which you will then edit with precision.

Your Instructor: Blake Butler (author of "There Is No Year" and Founding Editor of HTMLGIANT)

Where: Online — Available everywhere!

When:March 15, 2018 - April 5, 2018

Enrollment:
16

Price: $300

Class Description

Looking to push the boundaries of what fiction can do?

Experimental wunderkind Blake Butler is here to help. Not only has he published some of the most uncompromising fiction of the new millennium, he's done so through both independent and Big Four publishers.

And as the editor of literary blog HTMLGIANT his keen eye has given many ambitious young writers a well-deserved platform.

If you are tired of the same old same old, and want your writing to stand out from the pack, this course will help you explore methods and issues pertinent to using the unconscious mind to generate unique fiction.

Over three weeks we will discuss ways to open up an intuitive approach to writing that involves the utilization of a more urgent, language and image-driven process to create new text, focusing on generating a complete object in a short time. We will then look at how to approach editing a raw document, including looking for ways to expand on what is there, and how to cut away the fat to find the true heart of what the work wants. Lastly, we will discuss how to apply this approach to writing a longer work, such as a novel.

You will leave this class with new techniques to approach writing and editing in the spirit of expanding what fiction can do through you. Shed your inhibitions and make your mark.

What This Class Covers

Week 1: Generation

Lecture: In the first week, we will discuss principles of writing with momentum, aimed at producing a text in a short period with attention to energy, sound, image, and focus. We will discuss techniques and approaches to writing from the unconscious using images and words as triggers, and how to streamline your ideas on the fly using logic and other forms of channeling your voice.

Ideas addressed:

Securing the mindstate (attending to what you surround yourself with)

Modular approach (learning where to stop and insert a pause, use white space)

Finding the groove and staying there but not forcing it

Using titles or frames/ideas to direct the narrative without necessarily intentionally mapping it out or directing the language itself (i.e.: Ball, Burroughs)

Using another text or work of art as a frame (Barthelme’s use of Ashbery)

Logic vs intuition

Visual momentum

Writing without knowing what you mean exactly

How to come back to it later and reconnect (using the downtime of the brain to let things figure themselves out, or to move on and allow a ‘problem’ to manifest itself into the work)

“Questions don’t have to be answered, in fact sometimes it is better if they do not.”

Assignment: Students will be asked to generate an original short or medium-length text, written in a specifically framed sitting or series of sittings, to be potentially revised and/or expanded upon in the following week(s).

Week 2: Revision

Lecture: In the second week, we will take the draft created in the first week and revise it, using the approach of writer-as-reader, looking for ways to improve on the initial text’s flow. We will discuss revision techniques and ways to find missed opportunities and places to expand, as well as recognizing what not to interrupt about the original tone of the work.

Ideas addressed:

Editing as a ‘reader’ of your own work

Allowing unusual phrasings to stay whether they make perfect sense or not

Accepting that deletion can be the best chance to improve, allow a new space or gap of logic that wasn’t on the page to feel ‘ghostly'

Looking for connections in the work that you can reinforce (recurring ideas, things that cohere naturally)

Use of film and music

Page manipulation / sequencing and resequencing

Assignment: Students will revisit their text from Week 1 and seek to revise and/or expand upon it (though you will also have the option to start from scratch and then move into revision with a new draft).

Week 3: Expansion

Lecture: In the third week, we will look toward applying the ideas addressed in the prior weeks’ exercises to a longer project. We will discuss topics pertaining to how to write the first draft of a novel in the spirit of the unconscious-framework outlined previously, including how to extend your vision across a full scale work, as well as ways to reinforce your vision and intent over time.

Ideas addressed:

When (set time frame for the initial germination of the book (you can adjust later) and using that timing frame for a momentum setter for the pace of the plot (or not) of your book)

What (a framing idea or single sentence to get you started)

Methods of momentum during the writing process over the long haul

How (how to secure your time, including practical life consideration, and mental focus)

Inspiration during (what you will do with the time around writing)

Assignment: Students may choose to continue forward with the text generated in previous weeks, or start a plan to apply the ideas learned to a new text, with the intent in mind to create something larger from it, such as a novel, novella, or hybrid work.

Goals Of This Class

Explore methods of utilizing the unconscious mind to aid in the writing of quick first drafts

Learn how to edit that first draft with precision without losing what makes it special

Apply what you've learned to expand upon your idea, with an eye towards turning it into a novel.

LitReactor offers a unique approach to a writing education: You study what you want, when you want, at your own pace. We bring in veteran authors and industry professionals to host classes covering a wide range of topics in an online environment that’s interactive and flexible. You get detailed feedback on your work and take part in discussions in a judgement-free zone. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or an experienced writer, our workshops are about working together to achieve your writing goals.

Where do classes take place?
Entirely online. So, anywhere you have Internet access.

Are there certain times when the whole class needs to "meet" online?
Nope. Our students come from all over the globe. Everything is posted online and accessible 24/7. (We do occasionally schedule phone chats, but try to reach a consensus on timing.)

What does a typical class consist of?
It varies, but nearly all our classes include weekly lectures, homework assignments, peer reviews, critiques from instructors, and discussion forums.

How much experience do you need to take a class?
Beginner or pro, everyone is welcome. We encourage all skill levels.

And click here to explore a sample class that shows our layout and features.

About Your Instructor

Blake Butler is the author of five book-length works of fiction, including Ever (Calamari Press), Scorch Atlas (Featherproof Books), There is No Year (Harper Perennial), Sky Saw (Tyrant Books), and 300,000,000 (Harper Perennial), as well as the...

Testimonials and Acclaim

"The students' attention at Savannah College of Art and Design perked up when Blake Butler was a visiting lecturer as part of the Ivy Hall Writers Series. His down-to-earth approach to writing instruction had students engaged and eager to learn. His passion for writing and reading is infectious. Any student in a class with Blake Butler would have to make an effort to come away having learned nothing at all." —Jamie Iredell, author of I Was a Fat Drunk Catholic School Insomniac

"Blake Butler's editorial skills are expansive in the most crucial way—they range from the macro to the micro. His sentence-level reading is attentive and sharp, with a poetic ear for sound and language design. Even greater, his ability to see the underlying big picture, the very philosophy of the work he edited for me allowed it to reach its goals in a way it could not have done without him. He listened to the work, and the work grew immensely because of his attention." —Molly Brodak, author of Bandit

"There are moments in the classroom where you can see the cogs turning. When students sit there in quiet repose, cellphones holstered, clearly chewing on what was just said. You can visually recognize them mentally and emotionally running diagnostic tests on everything they assumed right up to the point of awe. It's a wondrous thing. I've seen it in the faces of students when Blake Butler teaches. I've seen undergraduates and graduate students furiously scribble down his book recommendations: names they've never heard and styles of writing they never knew existed. I've seen students who, in their journeys to find their own voices, will parrot a bad version of Blake's performance style: a high-wire act of such intensity that it rubs as halfway Southern Baptist sermon and other half volatile stand-up comic. I once saw a woman in the crowded basement of the Brookline Booksmith try to hold her breath through his entire reading. If you've read any of his books, seen him read, or even sat and talked to him for two minutes, you know Blake Butler is truly sui generis. As teacher, writer, force of nature." —Gene Kwak, author of Orphans Burning Orphans

"Blake challenges the way you think about writing. He applies unconventional techniques that help capture the mood when writing first drafts in multiple, short bursts; as well as gives guidance in how to really challenge yourself by setting logical boundaries that force the creativity to flow. This is one of those classes that changed the way I approach my own writing."—James H, student

"If you've ever suspected there's perspective you've been missing, insight into a process which is seldom discussed or beyond mainstream thinking in writing fiction, you will be grateful for Blake's class. His lectures and honest, generous feedback are sure to provoke your art in directions you may have never attempted otherwise."